Obsessed by Blue Diamonds: Highlights of the Spring Auction Season

April 8, 2016April 8, 2016

The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond, the Largest Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond to be Auctioned. Photo Courtesy of Mining.com

The largest Fancy Vivid Blue diamond ever offered at auction will go on the block on May 18 at Christie’s in Geneva, and it could be a record breaker. When the hammer falls on the 14.62-carat “Oppenheimer Blue” diamond, it will be the grand finale of a blockbuster auction season headlined by several world-class natural blue diamonds – more than any season in recent memory.

The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond

Named for its former owner, famed diamond dealer Sir Philip Oppenheimer, the Oppenheimer Blue Diamond is graded Fancy Vivid Blue by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Fancy Vivid is the highest color saturation grade given to a blue diamond, and color saturation is the value that contributes most to the overall value of any Fancy Color Diamond.

Christie’s has estimated the Oppenheimer Blue at $38 million to $45 million, but many Fancy Color Diamond experts expect it could easily break the world record of $48.4 million for the highest price ever paid for any diamond at auction.

The Current Record Holder

Last November, Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau paid $48.4 million, or just over $4 million per carat, for a 12.03-carat Fancy Blue diamond at Sotheby’s Geneva. Almost unbelievably, the night before, he paid $28.5 million for a 16.08-carat Pink diamond at Christie’s; both jewels, totaling $77 million, were reportedly purchased for his 7-year-old daughter, Josephine!

Important diamonds at auction often come with naming rights: Lau promptly renamed the current record holder “The Blue Moon of Josephine.”

DeBeers Millennium 4 Blue Diamond. Photo Courtesy of IdexOnline.com

The Year of the Blue Diamond: DeBeers and Shirley
Temple Blue Diamonds

The upcoming auction of the Oppenheimer Blue will follow on the heels of two other newsworthy blue diamond sales. On April 5, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, a 10.10-carat blue diamond fetched $31.8 million. Dubbed the “De Beers Millennium Jewel 4,” it was showcased in a 2000 exhibit at London’s Millennium Dome. It is the largest oval-shaped Fancy Vivid Blue diamond ever to come to auction.

What Makes the Oppenheimer Blue Diamond a Superstar?

The Oppenheimer Blue diamond has the potential to break all existing auction records for three reasons. First, there’s the diamond’s size: It is more than a carat larger than the previous record. Second, it is beyond rare: Less than .0001 percent of all diamonds mined are blue, according to Christie’s and the GIA. Third, one must factor in its provenance: Sir Philip Oppenheimer founded the London-based Central Selling Organization, the DeBeers-backed diamond cartel that maintained global prices for more than half a century.

“Achieving the strongest colors in traditional shapes, such as the 15-carat Oppenheimer Vivid Blue can only be achieved with a highly saturated intrinsic color of the rough diamond,” said Tom Moses, the executive vice president of the Gemological Institute of America, in a statement. “This blue diamond’s color and clarity, combined with its traditional cutting style and provenance, is truly exceptional.”